Presenting the most progressive music in Second Life for over eight years. Cat Boucher built the MusikCircus herself, such is her love of music. Performers are asked only one thing, please don't cover Elvis songs.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Naga Flow

Naga is a poet, songwriter, musician who sings from Wollongong, Australia.

There is a deep passion and sensitivity to his lyrics and his expression of them that is immediately captivating.

The content of his songs may be personal, or political, or whatever it needs to be as he doesn't sound like limits would ever be acceptable.

Naga Flow played his debut show at Cat's Art MusikCircus tonight and he was highly-enthusiastic about opening for Paris Obscur who is one of the most passionate singers you will ever hear. That's a brave position to take and I had heard a bit of his music but wasn't so sure what to make of it. For me, I really don't know until I hear someone live. Tonight was the night.

Naga delivers his lyrics as a poet more than a songwriter and his phrasing is very much his own. There is a tremendous passion in it but not so much confidence as he started. As he felt more the vibe of the MusikCircus, his confidence grew and he sounded stronger and stronger, projecting fully what he was trying to do.

Naga sounded a bit concerned about the show going into it as he was talking with a bit of question about originals to which I always respond yes, yes, yes. It's not just me as everyone coming to the MusikCircus looks for musical adventures as that is what Cat built. Originals can be heartbreakers because you need to find a receptive crowd or the audience may not even give you a chance. This is what separates the MusikCircus as there's nothing we like more than originals. The performer may take a few minutes to get used to it but then it comes. It really is free here.

He was very smooth with his levels as there is a substantial dynamic to his work in that he goes from very soft to great strength on the guitar and the vocal, not exactly shouting but not far short. Even though he pushes this very hard, it does not clip or distort so has a great quality sound throughout. This was very impressive as it takes a lot of time to get that right and there were times when he was hammering it but with no distortion at all.

Polish would wreck him as his music would be all covered in Turtle Wax and the purity of it would be lost. His lyrics are not always clear but come out stronger as his show builds. The passion is unmistakable. It struck me very much that there is a lot of magic in his phrasing as simple rhyming couplets are ok but he wants much more and he phrases his words in whatever way they need. The content of the words in combination with that phrasing make his work unique.

It's not my purpose to compare Naga Flow with lefty Unplugged but it does no harm to note similarities, also with Sonya Jevette, on unique phrasing they will use for their lyrics and this is what moves that work from songwriting to poetry with music.

I'm sure Naga Flow will be asked back and it will be cool to watch and listen to how things go with him and his show. I know I'll be there.